On view
Floor 6
Date
2020
Classification
Drawings
Medium
Watercolor on paper, (b,c)Watercolor and graphite on paper, (a)
Dimensions
Sheet (each): 14 × 11in. (35.6 × 27.9 cm)
Accession number
2021.73a-c
Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Drawing and Print Committee
Rights and reproductions
© Kambui Olujimi
API
artworks/65005
Visual Description
Your King Is on Fire, 2020 is a series of images on paper by Kambui Olujimi made of watercolor and graphite. These paintings show the fiery progression of the destruction of the statue of King Leopold II in Antwerp, Belgium. Against a cloudy black, gray, and blue background, stands the statue of King Leopold II in the center frame. The statue depicts a man with white pants and a dark military jacket leaning against a podium inscribed with a national seal. The figure holds a hat in his left hand. Flames consume the torso and head of the statue. The flames flare upward and appear to emit a gauzy blue smoke.
This series brings contemporary conversations about historical monuments into focus, especially following the presidential election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the global resistance movements against white supremacy, colonialism, and imperialism during the summer of 2020. In particular the work highlights resistance movements that responded to the nefarious history of Belgium’s participation in the practice of exploiting Africans and Africa. King Leopold II was known for enslaving and torturing Congolese families and conscripting orphans into his private army. It is estimated that his atrocities resulted in the deaths of 10 million people.
Audio
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Descripción verbal: Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020
From Inheritance (Verbal description, Spanish)
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Descripción verbal: Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020
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Narrator: Your King Is on Fire, 2020 es una serie de imágenes en papel que Kambui Olujimi realizó con acuarelas y lápiz de grafito. Estas pinturas muestran cómo el fuego consume hasta destruir la estatua del Rey Leopoldo II en Amberes, Bélgica. La estatua del Rey Leopoldo II se encuentra en posición central delante de un fondo ahumado de color azul, gris y negro. La estatua representa la figura de un hombre que lleva puestos pantalones de color blanco y una chaqueta militar oscura y está apoyado sobre un podio que tiene inscrito un sello nacional. La figura sostiene un sombrero en la mano izquierda. Llamaradas de fuego consumen el torso y la cabeza de la estatua. Las llamas ascienden y parecen producir un humo de color azul translúcido. La serie incita una conversación contemporánea sobre los monumentos históricos, especialmente después de la elección de Donald Trump como presidente en 2016 y los movimientos de resistencia globales en contra de la supremacía blanca, el colonialismo y el imperialismo durante el verano de 2020. En particular, la obra pone en relieve los movimientos de resistencia que respondieron a la historia nefaria sobre la participación de Bélgica en la explotación de africanos y de África. El Rey Leopoldo II fue conocido por esclavizar y torturar a familias congolesas y reclutar a los huérfanos para su ejército privado. Se estima que las atrocidades que cometió resultaron en la muerte de diez millones de personas.
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Verbal Description: Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020
From Inheritance (Verbal description)
0:00
Verbal Description: Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020
0:00
Narrator: Your King Is on Fire, 2020 is a series of images on paper by Kambui Olujimi made of watercolor and graphite. These paintings show the fiery progression of the destruction of the statue of King Leopold II in Antwerp, Belgium. Against a cloudy black, gray, and blue background, stands the statue of King Leopold II in the center frame. The statue depicts a man with white pants and a dark military jacket leaning against a podium inscribed with a national seal. The figure holds a hat in his left hand. Flames consume the torso and head of the statue. The flames flare upward and appear to emit a gauzy blue smoke.
This series brings contemporary conversations about historical monuments into focus, especially following the presidential election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the global resistance movements against white supremacy, colonialism, and imperialism during the summer of 2020. In particular the work highlights resistance movements that responded to the nefarious history of Belgium’s participation in the practice of exploiting Africans and Africa. King Leopold II was known for enslaving and torturing Congolese families and conscripting orphans into his private army. It is estimated that his atrocities resulted in the deaths of 10 million people.
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Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020
From Inheritance (Spanish)
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Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020
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Kambui Olujimi: Me llamo Kambui Olujimi y soy de Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. Soy un artista interdisciplinario y me gusta crear cosas.
El rey Leopoldo fue rey de Bélgica. Bélgica fue una potencia colonialista que colonizó el Congo de la manera más brutal.
En Bélgica, hace tiempo que hay protestas contra las esculturas de Leopoldo III. Les han arrojado pintura, y durante las manifestaciones de Black Lives Matter que tuvieron lugar en la pandemia, muchos imperialistas colonialistas... bueno, sus estatuas estuvieron bajo el escrutinio público. Entre ellas, las de Leopoldo III. Prendieron fuego la estatua y partes de la ciudad de Amberes, por lo que al final retiraron la estatua de este rey.
Así que existió una reconciliación, o al menos un intento de reconciliación o de derribar el mito del monarca o de ir restándole significado a este monarca en particular. Fue un momento de mucho júbilo. Y esta felicidad era algo que me daba vueltas en la cabeza, pero se manifestó de distintas maneras. El primer cuadro que ve es la figura. Luego ve que la figura empieza a desvanecerse. Y yo sentía que eso guarda cierta belleza. Ese color lavanda. Me gusta mucho el azul lavanda ahumado. Me gusta el humo lavanda que aparece en la figura en blanco en el primer cuadro y en el segundo.
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Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020
From Inheritance
0:00
Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020
0:00
Kambui Olujimi: My name is Kambui Olujimi, I'm from Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. I'm an interdisciplinary artist and I like to make things.
King Leopold [II] was the king of Belgium. Belgium was a colonial power and colonized the Congo and did it most brutally.
In Belgium, there's been protests around the sculptures of Leopold [II] for some time. People have thrown paint on them, and during the BLM movement that was happening during the pandemic, a lot of colonial imperialists were…their statues were under scrutiny. He was one of them. And the statue and Antwerp was set on fire and eventually removed.
And so to see there was a reconciliation, or at least steps towards taking that myth of the monarch down or chipping away at it, and I mean this specific monarch, it was joyful. It was joyful, and so it was something that was in my head, but it came out in different ways. The first one, you can see the figure. The second one, the figure is swallowed. And I felt like there was a beauty to that lavender. I really like this smokey lavender blue. That's in the white in the first one and the second one.
